Fatty Acids: The Structure And Structure Of Fatty Acids

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Structure of fatty acids: Differentiating between fatty acids can be in two main ways: the length of free fatty acid chains and the fatty acids degree of saturation. The number of carbon atoms determine the length of fatty acid chains which often categorized as short chain fatty acids (SCFA), Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA), Long-chain fatty acids (LCFA), and Very long chain fatty acids (VLCFA) with aliphatic tails longer than 22 carbons, while the number of double bonds between carbon atoms determine their degree of saturation. Fats can be categorized into saturated fats and unsaturated fats. Furthermore, the unsaturated fats divide into monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. Fatty acid can be saturated if there are no double bonds …show more content…

Unsaturation fatty acid chains with one double bond present is a monounsaturated fatty acid, but if it contains two or more double bonds in the carbon chain of a fatty acid it is a polyunsaturated. In the chain, the two carbon atoms, which are bound next to each side of the double bond, can occur in a cis or trans configuration (figure 2). Saturated fat tends to raise blood cholesterol levels. Unlike saturated fats, most unsaturated fats are good and tends to lower LDL cholesterol. However, the trans-fat is an exception of that because it is generally considered to be bad for the person's health. The temperature when the molecule melts affected by The degree of unsaturation of the fatty acids in a fat. Mostly, the more saturated a fat, the more solid and firmer its consistency, so largely saturated animal fats are solid. In contrast, it remains more liquid at room temperature if it more unsaturated a fat. Therefore, vegetable oils that containing monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids …show more content…

The main difference between the two is based on whether the body can produce them or not. Essential fatty acids must come from the diet or dietary supplements because they can not be synthesized by the body, while the body can produce non-essential fatty acids though they still can be ingested from the food. Basically, there are only two kinds known to be essential fatty acids for humans: alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid, and linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid. However, there is some other essential fatty acids categorized as conditionally essential which become essential under some disease or developmental conditions such as docosahexaenoic acid and gamma-linolenic acid. Age, gender and many factors impact the need for the omega acids and the rate in which they have to be consumed. Generally, the amount of omega 6 should to be lower than that of omega 3. The primer functions of the essential fatty acids are to maintain healthy cell membranes, help to produce hormone-like substances, help with the regulation of blood flow, and important for brain development and function. Good sources of omega-3 fatty acid are leafy green vegetables, fish and their oils and eggs when omega-6 fatty acid is found in meat and vegetable oils and processed foods that made with these

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